Minor difference in postprandial responses of men between starch and sugar when replacing fat in a normal meal

Abstract

Healthy male volunteers consumed hot lunches consisting of cooked white rice, fried chicken fillet, raisins, bigarreaus (sweet cherries) and curry sauce with carbohydrate: fat ratios of either 0·77 or 2·04, and polysaccharide: (mono+di)saccharide ratios (P: MD) varying between 5·3 and 0·95. Before and at various time intervals after the start of the meal, blood samples were analysed for glucose, insulin, triacylglycerol (TG), free glycerol (FG), free fatty acids (FFA) and cholesterol. Elevated postprandial glucose and insulin peaks were induced by the meals containing a larger amount of carbohydrate. The type of carbohydrate in the meal appeared to have little or no effect on the peak maximum. A small second glucose peak was seen at 2 h after the meals with P: MD > 3·1. The TG concentration in the blood showed a similar and rapid rise. After the meal containing the largest amount of simple sugars, the TG curve levelled off 1 h after the start of the meal and then remained at a nearly constant level (1·5 mM). In contrast, a larger amount of complex carbohydrates induced a TG concentration which rapidly rose to a maximum of 1·75 mM, and subsequently decreased slowly to somewhat below that of the simple sugar-rich meal at 4 h. The postprandial curves after the fat-rich meals showed a continuous rise of TG up to a maximum of about 2 mM at 2 h, and a subsequent slow decrease. FG and FFA all showed a rapid drop immediately after the start of the consumption of the meals, followed by a rebound at 1 h. The postprandial curves of total cholesterol, as well as the areas below the curve of both total cholesterol and free, unesterified cholesterol were lower after the carbohydrate-rich meals than after the fat-rich meals. This is attributed to the larger amount of cholesterol in the fat-rich meals.